Welcome to my first LSU film study, which will be a weekly feature. I'm going to take an inside look at the game and try to point out some things viewers may not have noticed from the stands or the television broadcast in LSU's 30-24 win against North Carolina on Saturday.

Michael DeMocker/The Times-PicayuneLSU defensive back Tyrann Mathieu sacks North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates in the game on Saturday.

Obviously there was much to be happy about for LSU fans through the first three quarters and many things to cringe over in the last 10:34 when North Carolina put on a late rush.

The Tigers dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage during the first three quarters. The offensive line created holes for Stevan Ridley, who rushed for 81 yards, albeit against a depleted Tar Heel defensive line. The Tigers had to operate without right guard Will Blackwell, who broke his right ankle on the LSU's first offensive play of the game. He was replaced by T-Bob Hebert, although Josh Williford made a brief appearance for one series. The Tigers were intent on running the ball and used two tight ends on 24 of their 57 offensive snaps with the Heels forced to play backups at end.

Drake Nevis led the charge on the defensive line, which was going against a North Carolina offensive line at full strength. LSU held the Heels to 24 net yards rushing and had four sacks. Nevis had four tackles, including a sack, but constantly created havoc that allowed others to make plays. Overall the defense played well, holding North Carolina to 196 yards through three quarters. But breakdowns in the secondary allowed the Heels to make big plays and get back into the game, most notably a 97-yard scoring pass that changed the momentum (see below).

It appears the old problem of getting outsnapped by the opponents cropped up again. LSU had 57 plays to 79, including a 26-17 deficit in the wild fourth quarter. But on closer examination consider, the Tigers had two one-play scoring drives and a punt return for a touchdown. That's two snaps, three touchdowns. The first scoring drive started at the Tar Heel 30-yard line. The Tigers also lost possessions on an onsides kick and a roughing the punter penalty in the first quarter and fumbled the ball away three times.

Offensive Play of the Game: A 51-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Jefferson to Rueben Randle. This played showed that Jefferson has matured somewhat on a pass pattern where the timing didn't seem quite right. Randle lined up wide to the right with freshman James Wright in the slot. Randle ran a deep post as Wright ran an out pattern underneath him. Randle appeared to make his break late against freshman corner Tre Boston, but Jefferson, watching him all the way behind good protection, stepped up in the pocket and fired a strike to Randle at the goal line, just before taking a hit from the side by end Donte Paige-Moss.

Defensive Play of the Game: Freshman cornerback Tyrann Mathieu's sack and forced fumble of North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates on fourth-and-5 from the LSU 42 with 1:08 left. By all rights this should have sealed the game and was one of the big plays Mathieu made in his first college game. LSU had a three-man line of Barkevious Mingo, Pep Levingston and Sam Montgomery and showed blitz with linebackers Stefoin Francois and Kelvin Sheppard, nickel back Derrick Bryant and Mathieu. Francois and Sheppard backed into coverage while Bryant and Mathieu charged in from the right. Tar Heel blocker Ryan Taylor had to choose between Mathieu and Bryant. Mathieu sped past him and tracked down Yates who was moving to his right to buy time. Had Mathieu and Mingo, rushing from the other side, not competed for the loose ball, the Tigers might have had the clinching touchdown on a fumble return.

Special teams Play of the Game: What else, Patrick Peterson's 87-yard punt return, albeit against a depleted Tar Heel punt coverage team. Peterson did a lot of this on his own but he got a big assist right at the beginning of the play from Morris Claiborne, his running buddy at cornerback. Peterson fielded the ball on the left sideline and started to his right. Claiborne, blocking his man from the right side and moiving to the left, knocked him into two other Tar Heels, opening up a cutback lane for Peterson, who exploded vertically up the field. Freshmen Alfred Blue and Eric Reid provided cleanup blocks that Peterson may not have even needed. The only player with any shot was punter Grant Schallock, who looked like he was moving in slow motion when he dove at Peterson at the 45. It was over way before that.

Oops play: Claiborne, making his first start, had been warned about the double move. The Heels were on their heels at the 3-yard line. Yates faked a handoff, rolled to his right and Jheranie Boyd ran a stop and go. When Claiborne bit on the first move, Boyd ran past him, turning Claiborne around and putting him 5 yards behind when the throw was made.

Jefferson report: Quarterback Jordan Jefferson had a good outing overall, though he made a couple of major mistakes. He threw a horrible interception while trying to throw the ball away at the end of the first half, which could have been run back for a score. He was looking for Russell Shepard, who came open late in the pattern. Freshman Tre Boston made the pick and had a convoy of North Carolina players around him. Even worse, with LSU at the UNC 26, he drew an intentional grounding call, a 21-yard penalty which put LSU out of field goal range when a three-pointer could have helped seal the game. He was looking for Shepard again, who got bumped at the 20 while Rueben Randle was open momentarily for a possible touchdown. Both plays indicate he needs work on his pocket presence. Jefferson also made one bad read on a shot gun draw, handing the ball to Stevan Ridley for a 2 yard loss instead of keeping it. But he was otherwise efficient, completing 15 of 21 passes - four passes were dropped - for 151 yards. His short range passes were on target and his touchdown to Randle right on the money. He ran for 36 yards on nine carries, not counting the 21-yard grounding loss.

Didya notice?: LSU played nine true freshmen, eight new starters and had 18 first time players after losing 17 seniors from last year's team . . . One of those who did not play was redshirt freshmen running back Michael Ford, who appeared headed for significant playing time after a strong spring game. . . LSU used the shotgun formation 41 times in 57 snaps.

First quarter: Nevis got into the Carolina backfield on the second play from scrimmage but missed a tackle on Johnny White, who fumbled the ball away to Brandon Taylor. . . Blackwell's injury occurred when Ridley fell on Blackwell's leg. . . Redshirt freshman linebacker Lamin Barrow made a great effort to recover a fumble, beating White to the ball and outmuscling him for it. . . Ridley showed good feet all night, making two cuts to pick up 8 yards one one play in traffic. . . Tight end Mitch Joseph screened off the safety and Russell Shepard made a tough catch with a defender on his back on a slant for LSU's first touchdown. Also, Jefferson took a big hit just as he released the ball. . . Safety Brandon Taylor came up strong to fill the hole on an isolation play and stop White after a 2-yard gain. . . Sam Montgomery's sack came on a blitz with six defensive backs in the game. Derrick Bryant and Patrick Peterson came off the corners and Montgomery was untouched while guard Jonathan Cooper blocked no one. . . LSU continues to struggle with spacing on the option play. Paige-Moss forced Jefferson deeper than he wanted on the pitch to Shepard, who dropped it but recovered. . . Nevis beat a block and knocked the fullback into White while Kelvin Sheppard and Montgomery got credit for the tackle on a 2-yard loss.

Second quarter: Sheppard, Taylor and Jai Eugene missed tackles on UNC first' touchdown, a 9-yard screen. . . Jefferson was headed for a big gainer on a keeper but was tripped by Paige-Moss after cutting inside. . . Taylor blew a zone coverage on the 75-yard pass play when Boyd cut back inside of him. But Mathieu ran down Boyd at the LSU 5 to save the Tigers four points. . . Sheppard scolded Kevin Minter for not covering fullback Devon Ramsay, who was wide-open when he dropped a sure touchdown pass. . . Eugene and Peterson had good man coverage on the ensuing play to force a third-down incompletion. . . On Shepard's 50-yard scoring run, it was almost all Shepard. The only block he got at the point of attack was from Terrance Toliver. Shepard ran through a large crease and blew past three defenders. . . Nevis blew up two consecutive plays. He slapped aside the guard to sack Yates and then crashed through to allow Barkevious Mingo to nail White for a 2-yard loss. . . Mingo missed a chance for another TBL with poor tackling technique on White's 9-yard gain. . . Sheppard made a nice read on a screen to drop White for a 4-yard loss with help from Mathieu. . . Ridley made a good cutback read on an 11-yard run as left tackle Joseph Barksdale sealed the end.

Third quarter: UNC star linebacker Bruce Carter bit on a play action fake and Jefferson hit Joseph with a 21-yard pass play to start the second half. . . Backed up to its 1-yard line, Carolina had it's best drive of the night, 10 plays, using two and three tight end sets to run right at the Tigers. Anthony Elzy carried the first six plays for 40 yards. . . Josh Downs got a sack on an outside stunt as Ramsay had a blocking choice between Downs and Francois. . . Williford looked slow and awkward filling in for Hebert at guard. He got tangled up with tackle Alex Hurst, who was pulling, causing a 2-yard loss by Ridley.

Fourth quarter: Ridley got a good double team block from Hebert and Hurst on his touchdown run, though it was called back on a holding penalty by Hebert. Ridley made two tacklers miss. . . Minter moved too far inside in a zone defense, leaving a big space for Zack Pianalto to make a 24-yard reception. . . On Yates' touchdown pass, he changed the play at the line and Erik Highsmith ran a curl and go to beat Taylor in the end zone. . . Tape showed UNC's Ryan Taylor hit LSU's Alfred Blue before the ball got to him on the onsides kick. . . Ridley failed to secure the ball on his crucial fumble and reserve linebacker Kevin Reddick poked it out from the side. . . On the game's second to last play, credit ends Montgomery and Ken Adams with good pressure on Yates, who threw behind an open Pianalto in the end zone. . . On the final play, Francois was there and made contact with Pianalto at the goal line, forcing Yates to throw the ball low and away, unsuccessfully.